FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT DOG PARK - PAGE 2

After voters refused to raise taxes for park improvements in March, Arlington Heights Park District officials are considering giving an improvement plan another shot in November. And maybe dog lovers will be enough to pull them past the finish line. The park district has had a long-standing ban on dogs, with a demand from some canine fans to add a dog park to provide a place for their pets to roam. This has prompted officials to consider adding such a park to a possible retry for a bond referendum for the November ballot.

On the City of McHenry Web site , the city announced the opening of a new dog park: "McBark Park, the city's new community dog park, is open. McBark Park is located off Route 31 north of Kohl's department store. Annual passes are available at the municipal center. Access to the park will be via a gate-controlled system allowing only pass holders. Pass fees and park information can be found on the city web site www.ci.mchenry.il.us under Parks and Recreation or call the Parks Department at 815.363.2160.

His first choice was to meet Ozzy Osbourne, but the aging rock star was out of the country. So Scott Zelhofer asked the Wish Upon A Star Foundation to install a dog park near his southwest suburban home. "I have a dog that likes to run," reasoned the 18-year-old, who suffers from an autonomic nervous system dysfunction. "I thought, who would deny that? It's like a free dog park." Well, not quite free. The Joliet-based charitable foundation estimates the park would cost about $6,000 to build.

Pat Harper-Peterson and Chomp Chomp, a boxer-pit bull mixed breed, sat in the grass on a recent June day in Centennial Park, where Orland Park's first dog park is scheduled to open in late July. "She just loves kids," Harper-Peterson said as Chomp Chomp's tail wagged as she watched some boys chase each other across the park. Fellow dogs, Harper-Peterson pointed out, are another story for Chomp Chomp, whom she describes as "dog aggressive. " And at six years old, a middle-aged adult in dog years, she is unlikely to change her ways, said Harper-Peterson, who lives in Orland Park.

Park district officials in Mount Prospect recently unleashed a plan to build a 2-acre dog park at Melas Park, and are asking for the public's help in naming it. Officials presented details of the dog park project, which will be undertaken jointly with the village of Arlington Heights, at a public meeting at Central Community Center in Mount Prospect on Jan. 9. "People have been asking for it for so long," said Mount Prospect park board member...

The Arlington Heights Park District is pitching in to help plan for a dog park just over the border in Mount Prospect. Details of the proposed dog area to be built at Melas Park, 1500 W. Central Road in Mount Prospect, will be unveiled at a public meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Central Community Center, 1000 W. Central Road in Mount Prospect. The future dog park, expected to be open in June, will be a joint project between the park districts in Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect.

Plainfield Park District voters Tuesday told officials they support term limits, are against dog park permit fees and want them to look into a community center. With all precincts reporting, unofficial vote totals of the non-binding referendum measures showed 56 percent of voters wanted park commissioners to look into a community center and 90 percent favored term limits. Meanwhile, 58 percent of voters said they oppose permits to use the district's dog parks. The results of the advisory referendum questions will be discussed at the park board's April 1 meeting, board President Peter Hurtado said.

Some Oak Park residents are unhappy with a park district plan to remove a dog run and sled hill to install a synthetic turf field at Ridgeland Common. The Ridgeland Common Dog Park Plus, a field open on weekends for dogs at 415 Lake St., will close permanently Aug. 4 as part of a $22.8 million renovation at the facility, which also includes building an expanded indoor ice rink and improvements to the swimming pool. The sled hill at the Ridgeland field will also be wiped out, while the smaller enclosed dog park at the site will close March 18 for the reconstruction project.

Orland Park pooches will soon have a park to call their own thanks to an agreement between village and township officials to build the area's first dog park together. Following the conclusion of the national Bark for Your Park contest where Orland Park failed to win any prize money, village officials last week moved forward with a backup plan to build a three-acre park for the village's pups. Trustees approved an intergovernmental agreement with Orland Township to split the cost of the project 50-50, with the township contributing up to $100,000.

Kevin Tan and his wife, Felecia, knew Jersey, their 2-year-old mixed breed dog, had a problem getting along with other canines at a dog park in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. "Jersey would get hold of a ball and lash other dogs that tried to take it away," said Kevin Tan, a first-time dog owner. "He had serious ball aggression, and I did not want it develop into something more serious. " So the Tans decided to take themselves and Jersey to Daniel McElroy, the owner of Bark Avenue Playcare in Chicago's West Loop, to learn how to control their pet's behavior around other dogs.